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School board to expand international program

It's no secret - there are a noticeable number of empty chairs in local classrooms.

So, to help fill them, members of the Lambton-Kent District School Board recently took a trip to China and South Korea to look at expanding their existing international program.

"The purpose was to build relationships and other opportunities," said Carmen McGregor, one of four LKDSB delegates on the trip.

"We were searching out new areas and looking to develop our programs," she added, saying that the exchange program is established in South Korea but just in the beginning stages in China.

The LKDSB chair said the board members got back from their two-week excursion in mid-October and they're set to present their experiences and their recommendations to the board at an upcoming meeting on Nov. 8 in the Chatham board office (the public is invited to sit in).

Over the past year, LKDSB hosted about 50 international students, both on a temporary and full-time basis. The board has been involved in international exchanges for about 10 years, and it's had more than 100 students in a given year.

McGregor said things have slowed down a bit because of SARS and H1N1.

Each student who comes stays with a family with like-aged children (the school board is always looking for more host families), and they pay around $13,500 in tuition.

"We use those funds to top off some of other programs," said McGregor - for example, international students' tuition helped cover the costs of the trip.

Students who come here learn both the culture and the language. McGregor said that's particularly important since nine million high school Chinese students graduate every year to compete for one million university positions. Those who are fluent in English can consider post-secondary school in North America.

"When they come to Lambton-Kent, they're fully immersed," she said.

McGregor said that there is a lot of pressure on Asian students to get high grades and to be the top of their class.

"There's a very, very strong focus on education within their system."

And while the LKDSB board chair doesn't think that we need to adopt their 8:30 to 4:30 days - often followed by instruction at private academies - she thinks that having international students here can provide a benefit for local students, too.

"The world is such a small place. It's very common for kids to leave university and go work abroad. They require a more global perspective," said McGregor.